Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hype is perilous. I almost made up my mind to hate BITS Pilani for the first impression it offered. When a starry-eyed teenager successfully clears a competitive exam and reserves a berth in one of the premier institute of the country, he does not expect a dull, almost ghostly, set of morbid concrete structures to stare back at him when he enters the campus.

However fate had it that the first day on BITS Pilani campus was destined to be the worst day of my BITSian life till date. On a sultry morning, early August, I got on to a Rajasthan Roadways bus from Jaipur, having no idea about the time it was going to take for me to reach Pilani (If I were asked how much time it would take, I would have probably said 3 hours). The journey was an ordeal. By the time we reached Pilani, I resembled a marathon runner (the ones who fail to win, not the happy ones). And this was when the authorities felt it was apt to take a photograph for the ID card which would last with me for the next four years (even beyond).

The misery had just begun. The room which we booked at CEERI guest house never got booked and my parents and brother had to stay in the hostels for the next few days. Also, there was no electricity and it was impossible to sleep, less because of heat, more because of the murder of the hype. Hype is perilous.

The first impression had been created, and it was surely not a very positive one. The serious "interactions" with the seniors didn’t help either.

But things took a turn by the time the first music night arrived. During the music night I felt for the first time that college life had begun. After meeting different seniors and getting a hang of how things worked, there was no looking back. I was awestruck by the sheer magnitude of things undertaken by students. I realized that it is people (The ones who live and the ones who lived) who make BITS Pilani. I understood that it is an imperfect living organism and not an inanimate masterpiece of a sculpture. I fell in love with this place in spite of all its flaws.

I learnt my first lesson. Never let the first impression be the last impression. Be it with people, places or organizations, patience in judgment is a virtue.

Gold is purified by putting it in a high temperature furnace. Neither am I gold (more like shiny copper), nor did I get purified, but while studying in BITS Pilani I did feel the heat. From the very first day on campus, when the campus was devoid of electricity, to the first day of placements, I felt the heat, literally and figuratively.

I often try to remember the state of mind in which I was when I came into this college. I never imagined anything close to what I actually went through. Maybe I never imagined.

I wish to write an account of what I learnt from my few years in BITS Pilani. Lessons from BITS Pilani, a tribute to my alma mater.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Today the corridors of joblessness experienced the biggest tragedy of the semester. They were disconnected from LAN for more than 12 hours. It was marked by a period of extreme confusion and zombie-like behavior. The inmates of the Disneyland of Pilani went through the classic stages of grief:

Denial – “Hey it would not be gone for long. It will come back. It will come back”

Anger – “ Fish Fish Fish!!!”

Bargaining – “Atleast DC should have been working. I am not asking for anything more.”

Depression – “ My life is so sad, hey please pass on the newspaper”

Acceptance – “Damn it!! Lets play cricket!"

Expecting the spread of the jasmine revolution( it was started by jobless (I mean unemployed) people of the countries, here at pilani we just have joining dates which are a good number of months away), the authorities took evasive action and revived the central nervous system of our bhawans by afternoon. Peace.